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I ZS-hejets-Sheet 1. F. FRENCH. APPARATUS FOR'PRINTING INDEXES.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. FRENCH.

APPARATUS FOR PRINTING INDEXES.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK FRENCH, OF LONDON, COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR PRINTING INDEXES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,229, dated May 6, 1890.

Application filed August 9, 1888. Renewed October 10, 1889. Serial No. 326,587. (No model.) Patented in England November To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK FRENCH, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at No. 49 British Street, Bow Road, London, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Printing Indexes, (for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 15,624, bearing date November 30, 1886,) of which the following is a specification.

The main object of my invention is to provide a method of lettering alphabets for account-books, letter-books, diaries, or other books that is more accurate and rapid than the methods heretofore commonly employed for such purpose by printing in two or more colors at one operation.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 is a plan, of the apparatus which I employ to effect the said object. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 4 is a plan, of an inking-pad, which may be employed in connection with the said apparatus, as hereinafter explained.

Similar letters of reference denote similar parts throughout the drawings.

A is a wheel made of wood, metal, or other suitable material, and having its periphery grooved and divided by transverse notches into a number of equal divisions,-as shown in Fig. 1. Types formed of india-rubber or other suitable material and representing the letters of the alphabet are fixed on the said divisions around the wheel, as shown in Fig. 2.

On one side of the wheel A is a projection or boss B, and a metal circular cam-path O is recessed into or formed upon the other side of the said wheel. The said cam rises gradually from the side of the wheel A for nearly the whole circle, when it descends again with a sharp slope to the lowest part or commencement. The wheel Ais mounted on a spindle D, the said spindle being fitted in two metal arms E E, which are fixed on a suit-able handle F.

At the back of the wheel A and between the arms E E is a drum or small wheel H, divided by transverse ridges into a number of equal spaces or divisions on its periphery.

The said divisions correspond with the afore said divisions on the wheel A, and are fitted with alternately red and black inking-pads, which are charged with ink of these colors. The drum H revolves on a spindle fitted in a carriage I, which slides between the inwardlyprojecting ledges M, M, and N 011 the arms E E.

Attached to the back of the carriage I is a rod J, surrounded by a helical spring K, which enters a tube L, pivoted at L to the arms E E. This spring K exerts sufficient pressure to keep the inkingdrum or wheel II in its proper position in such contact with the letters on the periphery of the wheel A as to supply each letter with color. The ridges in the wheel H, entering the notches in the wheel A, insure the wheels being always in their proper relative positions. A set-screw P is inserted in the arm E to form a stop to prevent the wheel II being accidentally drawn back out of gear with the wheel A and returned in the wrong position-that is to say, with the black inking-pads on the red letters, and vice versa. I

When it is required to ink the pads, the stop P is withdrawn and the carriage I pulled back until the spring-detent Q drops into the hole R and holds the carriage so that the inking-wheel H can rotate clear of the wheel A. To remove the wheelH, the screw-stops P and S are withdrawn and the carriage drawn back till it is clear of the short ledges N, when it can be turned outward 011 the pivot L 'and the wheel II taken out. In place of the said rod J, spring K, and tube L, I may employ elastic bands for holding the wheel H in position against the Wheel A, such elastic bands being attached in any suitable manner to the carriage I and arms E E; but in practice I prefer the former arrangement.

Two or more of the divisions on the wheel A at the end of the alphabet are preferably left blank, as shown, and to insure the said wheel when the handle is held horizontally being always in the right position to start a fiat spring G is fixed at one end to the inside of the arm E, while the other end bears upon the circular cam-path 0. As the wheel Arevolves, the end of the spring is gradually pushed outward by the cam until it just passes the highest point, which corresponds withthe end of the alphabet. The wheel being now lifted 01f the paper, the spring, sliding down the sharp slope automatically, completes the revolution of the wheel and brings it to rest at the starting position. In place of this arrangement of cam and spring, I may employ a boss upon the side of the wheel A, provided with a groove, within which an elastic spring is wound by the rotation of the said wheel when printing, the spring returning the wheel to the starting position; but in practice I prefer the arrangement shown in the drawings.

If the inking-Wheel H be removed to renew the pads or for cleaning, the inking-pad shown in Figs. 3 and 4 may be employed. The said pad consists of a trough having a series of inking-pads charged alternately with red and black ink, over which the wheel A is passed once for each impression. Alongside the pad a scale is marked for cutting the leaves of a book to form an index'to match the letters on wheel A, and such index may consist of twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, or any number of letters that may be desired.

It is obvious that my apparatus may be employed to print in three or'more separate colors at one operation, or that only one color may be used, and that in place of letters of the alphabet numerals or any other desired signs or devices may be used.

Indexes may be printed by my machine upon the cut edges of books or upon sheets or separate slips. Each revolution of the wheel prints a complete index, having all the letters accurately spaced and in a straight line with each other. It is always ready to start without any adjustment, and one supply of ink to the Wheel His sufficient for from fifty to one hundred impressions, so that the machine can be used by unskilled persons ing alternate letters of the alphabet on their peripheries, have been used to print indexes in two colors, and I therefore lay no claim to a wheel per se for this purpose; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with the wheel A, pro- Vided with cam-path O and journaled in a suitable handle, of the spring G, attached at one end to said handle, with its other end 011 said cam-path, and an inking device, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The apparatus for printing any desired series of letters, numbers, or signs, such as indexes for account and other books, in two or more colors at one operation, consisting of a wheel A, with cam-path O, and spring G, journaled in a handle E E F, an inking-drum H in a carriage I, with spring K, and stops P and Q, all substantially as set forth.

FREDERICK FRENCH. \Vitnesses:

AMBROSE MYALL, WILLIAM F. MILLER. 

